The Battle of Olympus
System: NES
Release Date: December 1989
Developer: Infinity
Publisher: Brøderbund
Genre: Action
The Battle of Olympus comes in as a surprising release late in 1989. You start this bad boy up and the first thing that comes to your mind should be Zelda II. Hades has kidnapped your girl and turned her to stone. In order to get her back, you have to traipse all over Ancient Greece killing bad guys, freeing nymphs, and collecting olives.
You jump with the A Button and attack with the B Button. You start out with a club, but by the end of your quest, you have a sword capable of shooting a lightning bolt. There are several areas that are just nonlinear enough for you to get lost in. Most areas are gated off until you find a new item or upgrade. There are also five somewhat hidden ambrosia upgrades that increase your maximum life bar.
Enemies are mostly a pain in the ass to kill, being too short for you to hit while swinging. Bats swoop down from the ceilings in one of a few different patterns and it will rarely be the one you’re ready for. Expect to get hit, a lot. If you die, you can retry from the last time you heard the words of the Gods, or you can continue from the area you died on with half your olives. You need to collect 80 olives multiple times and enemies only drop one at a time, so try not to die or you’re going to have to grind for a long time.
Several levels are labyrinths with multiple doors that are not marked in any way. This is especially annoying in Crete, where multiple enemies are guaranteed to hit you. Bosses aren’t particularly difficult and require you to corner them and hack away.
There are lots of times you’re going to be knocked into pits and die. It’s stupid because they may be stairs that should switch screens, but if you don’t walk down them, you’re dead. Luckily, Hades Castle gives you multiple chances to refill your nectar flask which refills your life bar. This makes the final battle against the God of the Underworld pretty simple.
Graphics: 2.5
Sprites and backgrounds look pretty good, but your sword disappears against white buildings.
Sound: 2.5
Music and sounds are decent, but they grate on your nerves after awhile.
Gameplay: 2.5
Everything works, but you don’t have enough moves or tools to plow through earlier levels.
Difficulty: 1.5
Most of the time, you have to fumble into where you’re going and a lot of the enemies are incredibly slippery.
Fun Factor: 2.0
I would have been happier without having to collect olives to buy items, that elongated the boring combat system.
Overall Grade: 2.2
The Battle of Olympus earns a C+. I walk away from this one a bit disappointed. There was potential, but it was unfulfilled.